Deleting the future
by Mathrafal
Summary: Next-Gen Time-Travel. What happens when unexpected kids turn up before Harry's first year.
1. A first meeting

Disclaimer: I'm not the owner of anything to do with the Harry Potter book or film series, besides a copy of the books. Don't get any money from this either.

AN: Don't worry I'm still going to be updating Taranau. This idea came to me and I figured I'd run with it. Tell me what you think, please review.

A girl with hair like fire was eating her breakfast when it happened. A loud pop came from the sitting room. She and the rest of her family walked into the sitting room to find five children in a pile on the floor.

"Dad will be really angry with you James." One of the three boys said. He had red hair, just like she did, and emerald eyes.

"You were there too, he'll be mad at all of us." A black haired boy with chocolate eyes replied. An owl shot in through the open window and landed in front of the girl. It was sort of addressed to her, Ginny Weasley.

 _Dear Mrs Ginevra Potter,_

 _We, at the department of records, have discovered that Mr Harry Potter and you have become married. Because, as far as this department is aware, it is impossible for a wizard and witch as young as you and your husband to be magically bonded in marriage there shall be a hearing this coming Thursday at three in the afternoon in Courtroom 10. To decide what shall be done, if anything should be, about the marriage._

 _Mr Rumford_

 _Head of the department of records._

Ginny was shocked. Surely this was just a prank done by the twins to trick her, she'd wanted to marry Harry Potter since she was four.

It was at this moment that Albus Dumbledore entered the Burrow with a raven haired boy. "Arthur, Molly. Are you here?"

"In the sitting room headmaster." Ginny's mum called.

"Harry here received a rather unusual letter this morning, I was wondering if you might have its counterpart." Albus Dumbledore spoke. Ginny gave him her letter. "Hmm, yes, how odd. Perhaps it has something to do with our visitors today. They do look remarkably like Mr Potter and I suppose Mrs Potter."

Ginny turned to look at the young children that were still on the floor. Then she glanced at Harry Potter and went bright red. He'd also been glancing at her and his eyes were beautiful to her.

Four of the children suddenly hid behind the sofa and under the coffee table. Only a girl who looked a lot like Ginny was still sat on the floor. A purple orb appeared above the table and then a boy appeared. He seemed about two years old, just like the girl that was still sat on the floor.

"We're all in really big trouble." The boy spoke. The others' heads appeared from their hiding places. "Bunch into families then." The new boy said. The two boys who were arguing and the girl who looked almost exactly like Ginny but much younger stood together and the other two, one a boy and, the other, a girl stood together but separate from the other three.

It was then that Ginny noticed that Ron also had a letter in his hands.

"Introduce yourselves then. It would seem that no-one here recognises you."

The girl who looked like Ginny poked the boy who had not yet joined either family group. "I'm Lily, the next youngest is Albus and the idiot who got us stuck here is James. And that's Rose and Hugo." The girl told them all. Harry still looked very confused.

"Perhaps they'd like to know your full names dear, and maybe your parents' as well." The boy told Lily.

She rolled her eyes. "They already know their own names I'm sure. I'm Lily Luna Potter, Albus is Albus Severus and James is James Sirius. Rose and Hugo are Weasleys but mum was a Weasley before she got married so we're sort of Weasleys as well."

Ginny glanced at Harry again only to find his eyes locked onto hers. His face was as red as her own. Albus Dumbledore decided to start to discern what had happened. "Do you know how you came to be here?" He asked.

The boy spoke first. "No, not really, I'm sure Harry kept the broken time turner in his office at Potter Manor so I had assumed that we'd all be there."

"I had meant in this time. This delightful young lady never told us your name."

"Names are powerful things, some more so than others. It would be… unwise to introduce myself within the Burrow. As for how we came to be in this time, well it would depend upon the year but I assume that the time turner was affected by the magic binding Harry and Ginny together so we'd have to be in a period of time that the bond could re-establish itself safely. It'll take more than deleting the future to break that bond." The boy said. He looked to be about two years old but he seemed a lot more intelligent.

"Magic binding us together?" Ginny squeaked out.

"Indeed Ginny. Although it doesn't explain how Ron's marriage fell through into this time, I suppose the existence of his children would force the magic to bend in order to allow their continued living state." The boy responded.

Albus Dumbledore continued his questioning. "You seem rather intelligent for your age. Is there some reason for this?" Ginny noticed that Harry was a lot closer to her than he had been however she didn't remember having stepped closer. He seemed to be just as confused by their sudden proximity.

The boy grew. He continued to grow until he looked like he was an adult, then he reverted back to a two year old. "I prefer to be Lily's age. It's soothing." Everyone but the time-travellers looked shocked. They had never heard of someone who could change their age.

"Professor, I understand that this may confuse you, however, I expect that the ministry would like to meet with our happy newly-weds and it would be a disappointment if the ministry chose to separate the family. Therefore I think it would be best if the families could have some time together, without everyone around, so they might be able to decide on how best to deal with everything that has happened. The children have all done a remarkable job of keeping calm yet unfortunately I do not think that they will be able to continue to do so without some form of parents."

"Of course, of course, perhaps Molly you could show the Potters somewhere that they can talk? I shall go collect Mr Weasley's wife so that they might all be together for the moment."

Ginny's mum stood up and went into the kitchen, Harry was now sat beside Ginny on the sofa and 'their' children were all stood in front of them.

The unusual boy called out to Ginny's mum. "It's ok Mrs Weasley we already know a nice spot down by the stream that we can talk at." And with that he started to usher the Potter children out of the door and into the back garden. Ginny turned to look at Harry. "Oi! Harry, Ginny! All the Potters, hurry up!"

Ginny jumped and then flushed bright red at being called a Potter. Harry responded similarly. He then gently put his hand atop hers and pulled her up. They walked outside hand in hand. "Er, Ginny, is it alright if I call you that?" At her nod he continued, "What he said about the kids, er, well I think he's sort of right." His hand came up to rub the back of his neck before he realised that her hand was in it. He blushed again. "I'd like to try to be their dad, you know, they, er, well they need one and I thought that maybe, would you be alright with, er, at least trying to be their mum?" He'd turned an even deeper shade of red.

"I don't mind Harry, really. The kids need a mum and well, I think you'll be a great dad." Harry turned to look right at her before nodding with some new found confidence.

"Yeah. Thanks Ginny. You'll be a great mum I'm sure of it. Let's go catch up to them." And together they ran to catch up to the children who were playing by the side of a stream. When they arrived the unusual boy stood and started to wander off. "Where are you going?" Harry called out to him.

"I ain't a Potter." He called back.

"You will be if Lily gets a say!" James and Albus called at him. They started giggling together before Lily poked Albus into the stream.

Harry and Ginny sat down on a rock with the three children in front of them. "We've decided that we're going to try our best to be the best parents we can, but we need you to help us, we don't really know anything much about being parents so we're just learning. Maybe we should start with learning more about each other."

They spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon talking quietly by the stream and getting to know each other. They only stopped when the unnamed boy delivered lunch and then when he asked them to come back to the Burrow for dinner. They'd gotten to know each other very well and Harry and Ginny had spent much of the afternoon with Ginny's head resting on his chest as they lay down listening to their children's stories.

At dinner the Potters were all happily conversing at their end of the table until an argument of whispers broke out between Ron and his wife. Ginny thought it was a shame that they hadn't bonded as a family as she had with hers. When she turned back to her meal she saw Harry looking at her. "What?" She asked him.

He blushed bright red, something he hadn't done since before lunch. "You're beautiful." He whispered to her. James and Albus started to laugh.

"Dad! Some of us are eating." James said. Harry went bright red.

"James, don't pick on your father, you aren't eating, you're making a mess, there's more of your grandma's cooking on the floor than in your tummy. Do you want to clean up after dinner?" Ginny replied. She turned back to Harry. "I think you're rather handsome as well… husband." She spoke with a mischievous tone to her voice.

Unfortunately, Harry wasn't so easily flustered. "No ogling at the dinner table, wife." His eyes danced with mirth. Ginny elbowed him before she leant against his warm body.

After dinner everyone went upstairs. Hugo would sleep in Ron's room; Rose and Lily would share with Ginny while Harry, Albus and James would borrow Charlie's room across from hers. The unnamed boy told them that he'd sleep at his own home. James had made some joke about Lily not being able to sneak into his bed if she had to share with Ginny, which resulted in Lily pinching him.

When all of the girls were entrenched in their beds, Hermione had gone back to her house, Lily spoke. "Mum? Can you get daddy to give me a kiss goodnight, please?" She whispered into Ginny's side.

"Of course, I'll be right back Lily." Ginny responded. She clambered from the bed, being careful not to squish the two young girls in the bed with her. She knocked on the door across the landing and waited.

"Hello? Who is it?" Came Harry's voice.

"It's me, can I come in?"

"Oh, yeah of course you can." He replied. Ginny slipped into the room and turned on the lamp.

"Lily wants you to give her a goodnight kiss, dear."

"Ok I'll be right back you two." He stood up and walked over into the other room. Ginny bent down and gave her two sons a hug each.

"Do my boys want a goodnight kiss?" She asked them. They both shook their heads and crawled back under the covers. "Ok, goodnight you two."

"Goodnight mum." They both responded. Harry returned.

"I've asked Ron to say goodnight to Rose but he seemed a bit… resistant to the idea. I don't know what your brother and his family were doing while we were outside. I hope they're all going to be ok." He paused in thought. "Goodnight my Ginny." he whispered to her before gently touching his lips to hers. Ginny pressed her lips to his as he started to draw away. When they parted a few seconds later they both had wide smiles across their faces.

"Goodnight my Harry." Ginny whispered. When she returned to her space between Lily and Rose she heard Rose crying softly. "What's wrong Rose?"

"Daddy always gives me a kiss goodnight." She responded quietly.

"It'll be ok Rose, today has just been a shock for your dad. I'm sure that tomorrow, after he's had a good night's rest, he'll be happy to give you all of his love." Ginny gave the young girl a hug.

"Thank you aunty Ginny." Rose replied before she drifted off to sleep, her face buried in Ginny's neck. Lily had already fallen asleep with a smile on her face and her arm stretched across Ginny. In the morning Ginny would awake surprised that no-one had been squished and that no-one had fallen off the bed.

AN: Lily and Hugo are 2, Albus and Rose are 3 and James is 4.


	2. Pretend Wolves

Disclaimer: In chapter one

AN: Please review, it helps, a lot.

A boy walked away from the Burrow. He'd been reluctant to give his name as he had wanted to meet his birth parents on his own terms. He took on the form of an adult Harry, it was so accurate that only Ginny ever knew that it wasn't in fact Harry, future Ginny of course, the bond between them wouldn't have fully stabilised yet, and so, this Harry and Ginny wouldn't be able to use all of its benefits properly yet.

He stood at the end of the driveway. His right arm rose in front of him and suddenly a bright purple bus appeared. The conductor wasn't Stan, who often gave him a discount when he was in Harry's form, since Stan would have only left Hogwarts this year. Just like the boy's own mother. "55 Dunfield Lane, Upper Langleton, please." After paying his fare he sat on the armchair that was bolted to the wall, although most people didn't know about it, and soon he was there.

A small cottage stood before him. There weren't any neighbours for over a mile. James Potter had helped his friend to buy a home with a large area around it. Lily Potter, Harry's mother, had added some wards that would ensure that only humans could leave.

The night sky was covered with clouds and the stars were hidden. The boy came to the door and took the form of a six year old. He felt that it would be easier to get his father to understand the situation if he was a reasonably aged child. He knocked thrice. The wards extended about ten metres behind him.

A grey wolf forced open the door and dove for him. Luckily the boy had lots of practice shifting into animal forms. Lily enjoyed playing with him when he became a wolf each full moon in memory of his father.

The wolf was surprised by the man-cub becoming a wolf cub. It shrank so that it was the size of a young cub. The cub began to nuzzle against his leg. It whined softly. The wolf became confused, surely this cub couldn't be his as he didn't have a mate. The cub whimpered slightly louder. The wolf picked the cub up and carried it into his den. The cub rolled up in the middle of the den and looked at him. The wolf curled up around this cub. Even if he didn't think that he was its father didn't mean he couldn't take it into his pack.

Moonset came quickly. Remus Lupin was surprised to find a small soft object laying on top of him. There was a wolf cub on his chest. He lifted the wolf from him and placed it beside him as he sat up. Then the cub became a boy. "Hi dad." The boy spoke.

Remus was beyond surprised. The boy had transformed after moonset so he couldn't be a were-wolf and he was much too young to be an animagus. "Who are you?"

"I'm your son. My name is Teddy. Don't worry, you're not the only one with a time-traveller child. The Weasleys are dealing with five of them. Please don't tell anyone. Except Mum of course."

Despite receiving a few answers, Remus was only even more confused. "Mum? Who's your mum?"

"Er, well, that's Nymphadora Tonks, but Harry says she never liked being called Nymphadora and I suppose, based on what's happening at the Weasleys, she's probably not a Tonks either."

"What do you mean?"

"She's probably a Lupin, the marriages of the parents of time-travellers seem to have come back with us."

"I'm married?" Remus asked incredulously. Teddy only nodded. Remus stood up and went into the kitchen. Teddy followed. "Does your mum know yet?"

"No. We probably should tell her though. Maybe today. I guess she's maybe living in Grandma Andromeda's house."

"Don't you know where she lived before she married me?"

"No. We've never really had the chance to talk much. About that, I mean." Teddy wouldn't meet Remus's eyes.

"What happened?" Remus asked him. Tears began to roll down Teddy's face. He shook his head. Remus took him into his arms. "It's ok, my little cub. Let's have breakfast and get dressed and then we'll go visit your Grandma and see if we can find your mum, ok?" Teddy nodded into his chest.

Harry was sat at the table eating some of the breakfast that he'd helped Mrs Weasley cook when Ginny started to walk down the stairs. He looked up at her. She looked beautiful even with her hair all messy and everywhere, it was almost like her head was aflame. She met his eyes and then it happened.

He was looking down at himself, and then, when he came back to his own body, Ginny was falling down the stairs. Suddenly he was beside her. "Are you ok?" Ginny just groaned in reply. Harry picked her up and carried her to a chair. He gave her a look over. He couldn't see any injuries.

Ginny pointed over to the stairs and he turned around. He couldn't see anything. "What do you want?" He turned to face her. His plate was missing half of its bacon and she was eating some toast. He doubted that she'd used magic to summon bacon and toast from the plates at the far end of the table.

She started to laugh at him. Harry just sighed and sat beside her. When she next took a bite of toast he poked her side. She squirmed. Harry wondered 'Is she ticklish?' He poked her again when she next took a bite. She squirmed and glared at him. She put her toast down. "Harry." Her voice would have stopped her brothers but Harry knew that she wasn't actually mad at her.

He picked her up and carried her into the sitting room. He lay her on a sofa and began to tickle her relentlessly. She squirmed and wriggled and then he felt it. Someone was tickling him. But he could see Ginny's hands batting away his own.

He released her and turned around. There was no one there. "Harry? Are you ok?" He turned back to her with a gleam in his eyes.

"So how many rashers did you poach?" Ginny ran for the door. She didn't make it. She was on the floor in gales of laughter as Harry tickled her once more.

He felt it again. He ignored it. Then it intensified. He couldn't keep tickling Ginny. When he stopped it did as well. Ginny was looking at him with a confused expression. Harry poked her belly. He was poked in return. Both of Ginny's hands were nowhere near his belly.

He sat up. Ginny did so also. "Harry?"

"Poke me." He told her. She did.

"Oh, that's odd. I was poked back. But you didn't poke me. How?"

"I don't know. On the stairs before you fell did you, er…"

"Look through your eyes?" Ginny finished. Harry nodded. "I don't think it's a bad thing Harry. At least it won't be if we learn how to do it on purpose." He nodded again. They stayed where they were for a few minutes, sat beside each other with their hands clasped, trying to see through each other's eyes.

Then James and Albus barrelled into the kitchen and began to eat from Harry and Ginny's plates. Harry and Ginny looked at each other. They went to get some more food served up. Lily and Rose were next. Lily gave Harry a hug and then leapt at Ginny. "Sleeping in your bed is nearly as good as pretending to be a wolf baby." She told Ginny before slipping into a chair and eating the food that Harry provided.

Ginny looked at Harry. He'd heard Lily. "Wolf baby, Lily? What do you mean?"

"Sometimes I sleep in the den and pretend to be a wolf baby with, well, I don't think he wants anyone to know his name yet. Not until he meets his mummy. He met his daddy last night."

Harry and Ginny shared another look before deciding that they wouldn't understand their Lily. They sat and ate, listening to Rose and Lily talking about playing with gnomes and James and Albus talking about whether they could go see any of their dad's quidditch matches.

Ginny's dad came down next. "Isn't Ron down yet? I'd have thought that he'd be eating already." At the mention of her dad, Rose became less active in her conversation with Lily.

Apparently Ron was the devil as he came down the stairs just as Ginny's dad mentioned him. He and Hugo began eating with gusto. "I hope Ron and Hugo have been playing at wolf baby as well, with the way that they're eating." Ginny whispered to Harry. He grinned. Ron had already finished an entire plateful of rashers.

"Today Rose, Hugo and Ron will be coming with me to meet with the other side of the family. The hearing's only tomorrow so we don't have any other time to do this so finish up, get washed and I'll take you all over." Ginny's dad told them.

Albus and James were interested in the trip. "Can we all go?" They asked. They'd never met Aunty Hermione's parents as they'd ignored her after she'd obliviated them and had never forgiven her.

"You'll have to ask your mum and dad." He told the pair. They instantly turned to Harry and Ginny. Ginny's dad went red when he realised what he'd just done. "Sorry" he mouthed to them.

Harry and Ginny met each other's eyes. "Your cousins didn't interrupt us yesterday, it would be rude to go and interrupt them today. We can help your Grandma around the house, I'm sure she has lots of work to do, especially with five extra children." Harry told them. Ginny nodded beside him.

Ginny's mum entered from outside. "Thank you for offering Harry but I don't work guests. Why don't you all go play down at the paddock." James and Albus were already running before she had finished the word 'paddock'. Ginny just sighed and leant against Harry.

"Carry me husband." He laughed and swept her legs out from under her then he carried her out the door and used her feet to pull on the handle and shut the door.


	3. Corupting the Innocent

Disclaimer: In chapter one

AN: Please review.

They stood in front of a simple semi-detached home in Cambridge. Mr Weasley was attempting to discover what the button beside the door did. He'd pressed it twice already and was very swiftly moving towards pressing it repeatedly.

The door opened. "Come on in then." A gruff man told them. They entered the house. Ron's wife, Hermione, was stood at the end of the hallway. She walked into the sitting room when she saw Ron. Mr Weasley ushered them all in after her.

Rose sat beside Hermione and Hugo sat next to his Grandmother. Ron sat next to his father. Mr Granger entered the room. "So, what are all your names then?" Rose jumped slightly. Mr Weasley answered for them. Mr Granger continued to interrogate them. Eventually he came to the marriage of his daughter.

"I won't be having my daughter married off like this at eleven. That lady who came from the school never said anything about this. Is this what your kind do, marry off their kids at eleven? I won't stand for it."

"Ah, well this is an odd situation. There's a hearing tomorrow actually and it could be possible that the marriage is reversed. We don't actually know what exactly caused the marriage. We believe that when Rose and Hugo came back in time they brought the marriage with them."

"Will we be at the hearing?" Mrs Granger asked. Mr Weasley shook his head. Muggles wouldn't be allowed inside the ministry building. Mr Granger growled slightly. "If these kids are our grandchildren then why do they act like they don't know us?"

Mr Weasley looked at Rose and Hugo. They looked terrified. "I don't know. They knew who I was. Perhaps you look different in the future." Neither Hugo nor Rose would look at Mr Granger at all. Perhaps something had happened to the Grangers in the future.

Mr Granger was frustrated that he wasn't getting any answers. "You girl. Don't you recognise me?" He shouted. Rose trembled. She shook her head. "Why not, aren't you my granddaughter?"

"You said to mummy that magic was evil, you said that a witch can't be your daughter." She whispered into the room. Hermione's face went pale.

"Why would I say that?" Mr Granger's voice was calmer.

"She fought in the war and because she was in charge you had to hide and she, she changed your memories so no one could ever find you. When she gave them back you hated magic and you never ever talked to mummy again." Her face was pressed into Hermione's arm.

The room was silent. "That settles it then. I don't want my daughter married to your lot. I don't want to see you again after tomorrow." Ron had gone red with anger. Ginny was married to Harry bloody Potter but he couldn't even be allowed to keep his marriage. He was older than Ginny!

Mr Weasley seeing Ron's building anger decided that it was about time to leave. He stood and led the children from the house. When they returned to the Burrow, Rose was in tears and Ron's anger spilled forth. "Why am I not allowed to be married, even if Hermione's a stuck up know-it-all, Ginny is married to Harry Potter and I don't get to be married at all! That's unfair, she's still only a baby!" His mother dragged him to his room by his ear, reprimanding him the whole way.

Mr Weasley picked up Rose and started to calm her gently. Hugo slipped outside to talk to Albus and the others.

Albus and James had spent the morning racing and teasing Lily while Lily had been talking to the gnomes. Whenever the teasing turned hurtful Harry or Ginny would tell off the boy who'd gone too far and Lily would curl up between them. Harry and Ginny had spent the morning talking about Hogwarts and the hearing the next day. They'd agreed that it would be best for the family to stick together but they were worried that the ministry might think they weren't old enough to look after the children.

There also wasn't much space in the Burrow for everyone. The children had told them the day before that they lived in Potter Manor but Ginny was sure that her mum would never let them live on their own, especially not while she was still nine. They'd also been deciding whether they'd ask Professor Dumbledore for a room for married couples this year and all stay at Hogwarts or if Ginny would stay with the kids alone at the Burrow and then they'd all come the year after.

They were already very attached to their children. They'd also been attempting to master their newly discovered ability to share sight. Besides tripping over while racing James and Albus; because Harry had turned to look at Ginny and shared sight while turning around, they hadn't managed to do it again.

Hugo came over to them all looking rather forlorn. "What's wrong Hugo? I thought you'd be at your Grandparents' house all day." Ginny asked him. He sat down beside Ginny.

"We did go to their house but Grandad Granger got really angry and now he doesn't want mummy and daddy to be married. And daddy's really angry now too. And Grandad said that tomorrow mummy and daddy will stop being married. But if mummy and daddy aren't married anymore then where will Rose and I go? I don't want anyone to take me away Aunty Ginny." He was snuggled into her side. She could see that he was tired.

Ginny picked up her nephew and put him between her and Harry. "You'll always be allowed to stay at the Burrow, Hugo. You and Rose. And Harry and I will both be here and so will all of your cousins. It'll be ok. Go on, go to sleep. We'll look after you Hugo." Harry looked at her with admiration in his eyes as Hugo slowly fell asleep with her arm held tight to his chest. He leant over and kissed her cheek. They both went bright red.

James, Albus and Lily giggled. Ginny shot a glare at them. "Thank you, Harry." They both lay down and edged closer. Then Harry's arm slipped over the top of Hugo and around Ginny. The rest of the kids snuggled up and they all slept in a big huddle in the middle of the paddock, tired from running all day.

Mr Weasley and Rose watched them all through the window. "I wish Uncle Harry and Ginny were my mummy and daddy too." Mr Weasley carried her out to the mound of sleeping Potters and Hugo. Then he rested Rose down beside her brother. She looked up at him in surprise before rolling over and climbing under Harry's arm to fall asleep with her body buried in the center of the huddle.

Remus Lupin and Teddy were stood in front of the home. Teddy had reverted to his two year old form in the hope that his mother and her family was more likely to accept him if he were younger. Remus knocked on the door. A woman with light brown hair opened the door. "Remus! I haven't seen you in years. And who is this lad? Introducing me to your son are you?" Remus went bright red.

Teddy giggled and his hair became the shade of the woman in the doorway's own hair. She was surprised, then she frowned at Remus. "Come inside. Nymphadora! Come downstairs!"

Remus sat in the sitting room, Teddy sat beside him. "What's up mum?" Nymphadora's voice came from the hallway.

"In here dear." Andromeda called back. Nymphadora walked into the room. Remus could see why he'd married her in the future already. Her slender frame and delightfully vivid hair was very appealing, as was the humour hidden within her face, he knew she'd make a good marauder.

"What's up?" Then she saw Remus. "Oh Remus has a son. Hey there little one, aren't you a cutie?" Teddy's hair went bubble-gum pink. He giggled. When Nymphadora looked at her mother, Teddy stuck his tongue out at Remus.

"Behave yourself Teddy." He whispered in reply. He looked back up to see that Ted had joined his family. Nymphadora was blushing.

"Your son is a metamorphagus." Andromeda said. "May I know the mother? I know that the trait is not from your side of the family." Remus blushed slightly.

"I believe you've already worked that out Andromeda."

"I haven't pushed out any kids!" Nymphadora shouted. She blushed even deeper at her exclamation.

Remus was surprised to find his own blush deepen. "Not yet you haven't." He told her. "Teddy is from the future. But you are his mother." Nymphadora stepped closer. Teddy reached up for her. "You don't need her to pick you up Teddy, don't be a pain to your mother." He reprimanded the child. Teddy stuck his tongue out at Remus again and shifted into a bird. He retook human form when he was perched on Nymphadora's shoulder. He giggled at Remus.

Remus only sighed. "It could be worse, you know. Teddy here introduced himself to me last night." Andromeda's eyes widened.

"Last night was a…" Remus nodded. "But is he…?" Remus shook his head.

"I don't think so. If he is, he has a level of control over it that I've never heard of before."

"He is your son?" Remus nodded again. Teddy slipped off of his mother's shoulder and pulled her down beside Remus before sitting across both of their laps.

"And you're married." He told them.

"We don't know that yet Teddy."

"Yes we do. All the other parents are married so you two must be as well."

Nymphadora was still blushing. "Married?" Remus turned to look at her.

"He thinks so but we'd have to check the department of records if we wanted to know for sure."

Andromeda spoke up. "I'll visit after lunch. Why don't you and Teddy stay here until I come back?" Remus thanked her. Teddy dropped from their laps and pulled his mum and dad from the chair. He grew to be eight and pulled harder.

"Hurry up I want to show mum my wolf!" He ran off into the garden.

"Wolf?" Nymphadora turned to Remus.

"He showed it to me last night. His metamorphagus skills are very advanced, he can change age, become animals and change his general appearance." Remus shook his head. "His wolf form is rather cute. I mistook him for an actual wolf-cub last night."

Nymphadora's blush had died down. A mischievous grin spread across her face. "So you managed to corrupt little innocent me then. I wonder if you can do it again." She continued to walk, swaying her hips slightly. When she looked back she laughed at Remus' face. She could clearly see where he was looking.

She knew that if they were married, she'd have lots of fun teasing him.


	4. The hearing

Disclaimer: In chapter one

AN: Please review.

The hearing had come. Remus and Nymphadora were indeed married and Teddy had persuaded them to let him go to the hearing. Nymphadora had been trying her best to make Remus become flustered all morning. She'd been doing rather well.

Teddy was talking to Harry and Ginny when the doors of courtroom ten opened. The usual stone chair had been replaced for the hearing. There was a small wooden table and on one side sat Mr Rumford, Head of the Department of Records, a representative of the Department of Mysteries (no one knew if he was the head of department or not) and Amelia Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and there were four spaces opposite them.

Albus Dumbledore conjured a fifth chair and sat down, Ginny's parents took the two seats on the left and, as it was their hearing first, Harry and Ginny sat beside them. Teddy and his parents sat in the seating around the courtroom. They were supposed to look after all of the children who weren't involved in hearings. Remus and Teddy had explained to the Weasley-Potter clan that the same thing had happened to their family.

Mr Rumford began proceedings. "You are Harry James Potter?" At Harry's nod he continued, "And you are Ginevra Molly Potter?" Ginny nodded as well. "Were you aware of your marriage prior to receiving a letter from my department?" They both shook their heads. "We shall of course take your own wishes into consideration, do you both wish to be married?" They looked at each other.

"We do." They said in synchrony. They grinned at each other. The unspeakable looked more interested than before but it was difficult to tell.

"We will also, of course, be taking your parents' wishes into account as well, as they are your legal magical guardians until you come of age." Mr Rumford told Ginny. "Your guardians are muggles and as such could not attend, Mr Potter."

"We're both fine with their marriage Mr Rumford, they've both been very mature about it." Ginny's mum told him. Ginny's dad nodded in agreement.

"Excellent. Then we shall simply need to determine the legality of the marriage and how it might affect Harry and Ginevra's legal status, and also how the marriage came about. Perhaps you might know whether there was a betrothal contract between House Potter and House Weasley, I understand there hasn't been a Weasley-born girl in the past seven generations so the contract may be from a few centuries ago." Both Weasleys shook their heads. "I had thought not, there isn't a copy in the storeroom. I see that there are more red-heads here today than there ought to be."

"They're my grandchildren." Ginny's mum told him.

"I was unaware that you had any."

Albus stepped in. "She didn't. Not until very recently." The unspeakable was looking at the children with much more interest than before.

"Time-travellers?" He asked. Harry and Ginny nodded. "The marriage came with them?" They nodded again. "That doesn't usually happen. If someone uses a time turner then marriages don't just happen earlier." He looked back at the children. "They've travelled a great deal of time into their past. Beyond even their birth. They're your children are they not?"

"Yes." Harry and Ginny replied together.

"The most likely explanation for your marriage travelling with them is also one of many explanations for some observations I have made today. Perhaps you already know?" They nodded. "I fully support the marriage. I'd be a fool to attempt to fight magic as powerful as that. Magic itself wants them to be married and the marriage can't be sent forwards again as the time line will have already changed just from the events of the past few days alone." He stood and left the chamber.

Mr Rumford didn't look surprised in the least by the unspeakable's actions. "Amelia? Is there precedent for this marriage?"

"No wizard or witch this young has even been magically married, of course ceremonies and weddings can happen at any age. Frankly in this case whatever the unspeakables tell us goes. The marriage stands. As for the Potter's legal status, when an underage witch marries a head of house she becomes a legal adult, this situation is very much similar. I suppose that the Potter's are legally adults and may keep their children with them."

"Well then, Mr and Mrs Potter I grant you custody of the Potter children and you are both legally adults. This hearing is over. I imagine the hearing for your brother will be similar, although I will have to find another unspeakable just to make sure that the situation isn't different."

They all stood up. "Thank you Mr Rumford." Harry and Ginny said together. Harry poked Ginny in the side. She just grinned at him and walked off to round up their children. "Professor, would it be ok if Ginny and I could have a family room at Hogwarts and look after the children together this year?"

Albus Dumbledore thought about the idea. "I'll see about getting a suite set up for your family. Seeing as you and Mrs Potter are adults now how many beds shall you need?" Albus started to laugh when Harry went bright red.

"Five please Professor, we're not that adult yet."

Albus nodded and left.

The second hearing was two hours later. The unspeakable that was in attendance may have been the same as before but Harry wasn't sure. He seemed different from the last one somehow. Ginny agreed with him. When Teddy heard them, a ghost of a smile spread across his face. They were already developing the bond's abilities quickly.

Ron and Hermione sat in the seats that Harry and Ginny had been sat in. Harry could see from their seating, where James and Albus were overjoyed by the news that they'd be going to Hogwarts and Lily was in Ginny's lap chatting animatedly with Rose. Hugo and Teddy were playing a game over with Remus and Nymphadora, who had quickly got them all to call her Dora since she didn't like her actual name.

Mr Rumford once again began proceedings. "You are Ronald Bilius Weasley?" At Ron's nod he continued, "And you are Hermione Jane Weasley?" Hermione nodded as well. "Were you aware of your marriage prior to receiving a letter from my department?" They both shook their heads. "We shall of course take your own wishes into consideration, do you both wish to be married?"

"I want to be married!" Ron answered almost at the same time as Hermione's "No thank you." They scowled at each other.

"We will also, of course, be taking your parents' wishes into account as well, as they are your legal magical guardians until you come of age." Mr Rumford told Ron. "Your parents are muggles and as such could not attend, Mrs Weasley."

"I've spoken with Mr and Mrs Granger and they told me that they did not wish for the marriage to continue Mr Rumford, in my own opinion I agree, they aren't ready to be married." Ginny's dad told him. Ginny's mum agreed.

"I suppose that the marriage has occurred under the same conditions as before?" Ginny's dad nodded. "Then we don't have much of a choice as we were told before…"

"Actually the conditions are vastly different." The unspeakable spoke. "Magic itself wants Mr and Mrs Potter to be married, it doesn't, however, have any such desires for Mr and Mrs Weasley. The marriage could be broken in mere moments. It is clear to me that at this time any continuation of the marriage between Ronald Weasley and Hermione Weasley would be detrimental to them both. The marriage would simply be dysfunctional. I cannot support the marriage." The unspeakable rose and left the chamber.

"Ah, well then, in that case Amelia where do you stand?" Mr Rumford asked.

"I agree with our colleague. The marriage is self-destructive as it stands. I won't support the marriage."

"I agree also. Now the issue is what shall be done with the children. Clearly Mr Weasley and Miss Granger would be inadequate parents."

Ron's rage couldn't be held back any longer. "You can't do this! You let Ginny be married and she's younger than me! This is unfair! You won't take away my children too, Ginny gets to keep her children and she's still just a baby! She couldn't ever look after her children if I can't!" His mother quickly silenced him with a charm.

"Well David, I feel it would be wrong of us to separate the family any further, perhaps we should talk to the children." Mr Rumford nodded. Harry went over to the Lupins to get Hugo and Ginny and Lily escorted Rose to the table. Ron and Hermione had been taken to the seating, Ginny's mum berating Ron the whole way.

"I had thought there were only two children." Amelia told them.

"Lily wanted to look after Rose. This is Rose and that's her brother Hugo." Ginny told her. Amelia nodded. Mr Rumford began to ask them questions.

"So Hugo, how old are you?"

"I'm two." He told them.

"I'm three." Rose spoke, anticipating the next question.

"Your mother and father are no longer married. We felt that they'd be incapable of functioning as husband and wife. We also believe that they would be poor parents. As such we have chosen to find a new place for you to live." At this Rose began to tear up.

"But we can stay with Aunty Ginny and Uncle Harry. They said that they'd always look after us." Hugo told Mr Rumford.

Mr Rumford turned to Harry and Ginny. "This would be an option." Lily looked up from her place on one of Harry's knees between Rose (on Ginny's knee) and Hugo (On Harry's other knee). Rose and Hugo both turned slightly to look at the pair. Hope was evident on their faces.

"We'll always be there to help you and to look after you both. However I think…" at this Ginny looked at Harry, "We think that it would be better if your Grandparents looked after you in the Burrow and if we helped rather than the other way round. Your Grandma has a lot more experience looking after children than I do."

Mr Rumford nodded. "Yes I had thought that the best option. You are both very mature." Harry went to get Ginny's parents while Ginny and Lily sat with Rose and Hugo.

It was finally decided that Hugo and Rose would live in the Burrow with their Grandparents. During the school term the Burrow would be extended so that when the Potters and Ron returned from Hogwarts for Christmas there would be enough space for Lily, Rose, Hugo and Ron to have separate rooms. James and Albus would share.

The Lupins had stayed for dinner until Dora had accidently caused Remus to choke on his pumpkin juice and spray Ron with it. Another bout of shouting resulted from this, ending in Ron being sent to his room. In the chaos Remus and Dora had disappeared. She'd been not so subtly attempting to entice him throughout dinner. When Ginny had copied her once during dinner, Harry had almost leapt from his seat.

The rest of dinner consisted mainly of Harry's fingers worming their way into Ginny's sides just as she was about to eat something. Needless to say neither one ate very much and almost immediately after dinner disappeared to Ginny's room for a tickle fight, Ginny already losing as she was carried up the stairs giggling.


	5. And the World Exploded

Disclaimer: In chapter one

AN: This one's rather short but it felt like a good place to end the chapter. Please review.

September first approached quickly amidst Ron's ever growing dislike of Harry, Ginny's mum's ever growing like of Harry and Harry and Ginny's ever growing closeness. Harry and Ginny had developed their ability to see through each other's eyes fully. They had now begun to work on doing it with all of their other senses. They'd become so adept at using the other's eyes that they rarely went without using both sets at once. The only time that they separated their sight was when they needed some privacy. They had developed the ability to use both sets of eyes on Ginny's birthday.

Before September came August eleventh. Lily snuck out of the bed that she was still sharing with her mother and cousin. James and Albus had already woken Harry. The four went down to the kitchen and began to work on breakfast. Harry did most of the cooking but he made sure to let each of the children help. Then they cleaned the kitchen quickly so that Ginny wouldn't have a reason to complain, apparently in the future Ginny would complain if they'd wrecked the kitchen making her a birthday breakfast.

Just as they were putting all of the food onto a tray, Ron barrelled downstairs with the twins. "Bacon please Mum." Ron called from the stairs. Then he saw who was in the kitchen, froze and began to scowl fiercely. The twins stood behind him.

"We've made mummy a birthday breakfast!" James told them. The twins nodded and stepped aside. Ron did not. His scowl deepened even more. Luckily Ginny's mum came downstairs before he could say anything.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"We've made mummy a birthday breakfast." James told her.

Albus nodded. "But Uncle Ron won't let us take it to mummy." Lily piped up.

Ginny's mum walked into the kitchen. "It's rather tidy in here."

"Daddy tidied it up." Lily told her. Ginny's mum looked at Harry who nodded.

"Let them by Ron." Ron scowled so fiercely that he winced. Then he stepped into the kitchen. James carefully rocketed up the stairs with his siblings close behind. When Harry arrived Albus opened the door. Lily shot past them all and dove onto the bed.

"Happy birthday mummy!" She shouted. Ginny jerked awake. Harry tried to stifle his laughter. Ginny noticed anyway and mock-glared at him. James had put the tray in his mother's lap. All three children were on the bed crowding around Ginny. Even Rose who had been awoken by Lily had sat up.

"What's this?" Ginny asked them.

"We made you a birthday breakfast." Albus told her. Ginny's eyes widened. Harry mouthed to her 'I cleaned up'. She nodded to him in reply.

"Have any of you had breakfast yet?" They shook their heads. "There's a lot here, Harry can you get some serviettes for them to eat on?" He nodded and left the room. Ginny thanked the children who, when Harry returned, pounced upon the food and devoured the majority of it. Harry grinned at her.

When the food had all been eaten Lily told Harry that he had to bring up all of mummy's presents and cards. "I think your Grandparents and your Uncles are waiting to do presents downstairs." He told her. Lily sighed. James took the tray back downstairs and Lily began to drag her mother to the sitting room. "You'd think it was Lily's birthday today." Harry told Ginny. Albus and Rose came down behind them.

True to Harry's prediction the Weasleys were all waiting in the sitting room. There was a pile of presents waiting as well. Ginny sat down beside the presents. She could see that some were from her new family. She decided to open Weasley presents first and then she'd save Harry's for last.

The twins had gotten her a Harry Potter doll. Percy had given her a book on the responsibilities of a good wife. Bill and Charlie had sent an amulet and a miniature dragon respectively. Ron had given her a packet of three chocolate frogs. Ginny's mum and dad gave her a new dress. Then Ginny opened Hugo and Rose's present. Harry had gone to Gringotts with her dad and the kids so she assumed that was when they'd bought the presents. Hugo and Rose gave her a pair of chaser gloves. Lily tore open the present that she'd gotten for her mother. It had a book about flowers in it. The children had told them that Ginny had been an avid gardener at Potter Manor. James and Albus similarly opened their presents for her. James had gotten her a quaffle and Albus had bought some new quidditch boots.

"Should I open it for you?" Harry had an eyebrow raised. He was grinning at her. Ginny looked at the present. She nodded. He laughed and picked it up. He opened it carefully and slowly, all the while looking at her. He'd discovered that she was rather impatient and had found humour in it.

She leapt up from her seated position, snatched the present and tore it open to Harry's laughter beside her. It had a box in it. She opened it. It had more wrapping paper inside. The present had been small to begin with, she didn't think that Harry would be mean but if this was a joke and there wasn't a present inside she'd be upset. She opened the paper slowly. Looking at Harry to make sure he didn't look like he was joking about. There was a wooden box with a flap on one side in it. She felt tears well up, was there anything inside this?

Harry's arms wrapped around her. He pulled her close and pulled up the flap. He stuck his hand inside and pulled out a new nimbus 2000. He kissed her temple softly. "I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to be mean." She nodded against him.

She ducked down and grabbed her new boots, gloves and quaffle. She was out of the door in seconds with her fiery hair trailing after her. "Catch me if you can!" She called back. James, Albus and Lily seemed to have been expecting it as they ran after their mother instantly. Harry followed next having seen her face before she'd made her dash.

They all saw Ginny flying above the paddock at insane speeds, whooping and laughing the whole while. She dove at Harry and he just opened his arms. She came to a stop a metre in front of him and leapt at him. Her arms engulfed him and her head tilted up. She pecked him on the lips. He froze. A look of wonder and joy covered his face.

He ducked his head and the world exploded.


	6. Time, Destroyer Of All Things

Disclaimer: In chapter one

AN: Please review.

The Potters were all packed. They were waiting in the sitting room having put their trunks into the car. They had had breakfast early and the majority of the Weasleys hadn't come down yet. Ginny had discovered that she'd absorbed Harry's habit of waking up early and was now awake with the rest of the Potters.

When the Weasley children finally had their belongings in the car boot it was already ten. "I don't give the muggles nearly enough credit. This car is much larger on the inside than it looked. The things they do without magic." Mrs Weasley commented when she sat in the car. The Potters all glanced at each other. They spent most of the car journey grinning.

They arrived at the station with five minutes to spare. Harry helped the children get their trunks out and the five of them rushed into the station. There was a loud whistle as they reached the platform. The train would be leaving in a minute's time. They pushed the trunks onto the train. Then climbed on after.

The Weasleys ran for the train, only just making it. Rose and Hugo looked forlorn as the train left, only smiling when the Potters stuck their heads out of the window and called good bye. Ron's head was conspicuously absent from any windows.

The family settled in for the journey. Hedwig had been released from her cage and was sitting beside Lily rubbing up against her. Lily and Hedwig had become close friends in the last few weeks, Harry felt it was a shame that she hadn't lived long enough to meet Lily in the future. He supposed Errol was a fluke of nature, besides Errol could barely fly.

A short time later a small boy who was slightly round entered the compartment. "Excuse me, I've lost my toad, Trevor. Have you seen him?" The boy did not look particularly hopeful.

James and Albus shot up from their seats. "We'll help you Professor Neville!" They looked at their parents. "I mean, if mummy and daddy let us." James said. Neville appeared rather confused.

"Professor? How do you know my name?"

"You're Neville Longbottom, the professor of Herbology." He didn't look any less confused.

Lily stood next. "You're both being silly, none of the people we remember can remember us, remember." She'd recently learnt how to say 'remember' and had taken to saying it a lot to make up for all the time that she couldn't say it. "We have to make them remember us all over again, remember. This Neville isn't professor yet. Not until he's all grown up, remember."

Neville was still clearly confused. "Harry can you look after the boys while they help find Trevor the toad and I'll stay here with Lily." Harry nodded and herded the overenthusiastic boys out of the compartment. Neville followed them.

It was only a few minutes later that Draco Malfoy entered the compartment. "I see the Weasleys have found a new way to get money. They've sold off their daughter like a whore." He laughed. Ginny could feel Harry's anger building. They'd managed to develop the ability to share hearing and were already mastering it quickly. "Now where is Potter? He's probably off sampling the goods that Hogwarts has to offer." He laughed again.

He quickly stopped laughing when a pair of young boys slammed into him. He fell onto a chair. The boys' father was behind them, he chuckled lightly. "Get out of here Malfoy. It would be rather unwise to antagonise the Lord and Lady Potter, wouldn't it? Perhaps you should remember who you're talking to next time." The boy fled quickly, his cronies following after.

Harry sat beside Ginny and took her into his arms. "You know that you're the only girl I'll ever want, right?" She nodded against him.

"I'm in your head silly." She replied cheekily. She poked his temple. "And I listen to the children." She smiled as she heard James recount to Lily one time that he saw his father save her from a quidditch stadium when her fans had gotten too close.

The Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade station with Ginny's head resting in Harry's lap, Hedwig's head tucked under her wing while she perched on Lily's shoulder opposite to where Lily's head rested on Harry's arm. The boys hadn't slept the entire journey and Harry hoped that they wouldn't be so tired that they'd misbehave during the feast. After he woke the girls and Hedwig, they all got off of the train.

Hagrid was calling out for the first years. The first years congregated around the man. Ginny and the children came with them. "Harry! Last I saw yeh, yeh were gettin' everythin' you needed fer school. Now yeh've got a family and all." Harry nodded at the kindly man.

"Yeah it's great." Harry told him. They embarked in the boats at the shore of the black lake. Four to a boat, except for Hagrid who had a boat to himself and the Potters who numbered five, Hedwig had flown to the owlery already.

Hagrid led them all into the entrance hall. Harry felt a pull on the connection between himself and Ginny. Then he could hear it. Everything. The conversation that Ginny and Lily were having and the grumbling that Ron was having beside them. Ginny locked eyes with him and smiled. Their shared hearing had suddenly developed fully.

A stern looking witch came out of the Great Hall. She told them about the four houses. Then about how the school worked especially in relation to the house system. She led them all into the Great Hall.

The Sorting Hat sang his song and the professor began to call for the first years to be sorted. Hermione was called up and became a Ravenclaw then Neville, who had found Trevor when James caught the frog in a compartment of sixth year girls and complained about cooties when the girls picked him up, became a Gryffindor also. Then the Patils became Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Then Sophie Roper was sorted into Hufflepuff. Harry was surprised. Potter had been skipped entirely. By the time Weasley came about and Ron found his way into Gryffindor, Harry and Ginny had shared several worried looks.

"In addition we shall have a family living in Hogwarts. The family shall be sorted into houses. The majority of the family shall not be attending lessons and they shall not be residing in their house dormitories." She told the hall. "Potter, Albus!" She called out. Albus went to the stool.

 _Hmm, hello Mister Potter. It is difficult to sort the students at eleven, it is even more so to sort you. I can see within you a great deal of power. I can see that you might find the path to greatness in Slytherin House. Perhaps you would like to be a Slytherin?_ The Sorting Hat told him.

 _I'm not sure. Daddy said that when he went to school the Slytherins were mean. It would be ok to be a Slytherin when I'm older but if the Slytherins are mean now then I can't be a Slytherin now, can I? Daddy was a Gryffindor, and Mummy was too. Can I be a Gryffindor like them?_ Albus replied.

The Sorting Hat chuckled softly. " **Gryffindor!** " It called out. Albus hopped off of the stool and went to stand next to his family. Professor McGonagall frowned at him when he stood next to his father. She continued with the sorting nonetheless. "Potter, Ginevra!" She called.

 _Good evening Lady Potter. As I told your son, it is difficult to sort eleven year olds, it is even more so to sort those who are younger. Yet I sense something within you. What is this?_ The Sorting Hat gasped. " **Potter, Harry!** " It called out.

The hall was in silence. The Sorting Hat wanted to sort two students at once. As Hermione was telling many, there hadn't been a case like this in the millennium that Hogwarts had stood for. Harry walked to the stool. Ginny, using their shared sight, shuffled forwards enough that he could sit down. The Sorting Hat expanded and covered both heads.

 _Well then Lord and Lady Potter. This is rather odd. Never in all of my years have I seen this, you've bonded together remarkably quickly and intimately. I would be a fool to try to separate you. Indeed the magic which binds you is more ancient than the magic that turns clocks and brings forth the seasons and even calls home souls. It is said that Time is the destroyer of all things, and that even the sturdiest of things will crumble into dust before him. I think he will have difficulty crumbling you. I suppose you would like to be with your son?_ They nodded.

" **Gryffindor!** " he called out. Harry and Ginny returned to the children.

The stern faced witch's frown deepened, it was clear that she felt that they should sit after their sorting. "Potter, James!" She called next.

 _Hello Mister Potter. I have told this to your parents and your brother, it is rather difficult for me to sort someone if they are young. You are particularly young, more so than any of the students. However I see a recklessness within you. Only the most foolish of fools go to Gryffindor. It is lucky therefore that fools are right just as often as the wisest of men. I assume that you would like to remain with your family?_ James nodded.

" **Gryffindor!** " The Sorting Hat called. James stood beside his mother.

Professor McGonagall had given up on persuading them to join the other students at the Gryffindor table. "And finally, Potter, Lily!"

 _Good evening Miss Potter. You are very young, aren't you? There is very little within you for me to be able to sort you properly. What is to say that in a year's time you won't be more suited to another house? Alas, I think Gryffindor is the best place for you._ Lily didn't respond.

" **Gryffindor!** " The family all migrated to the Gryffindor table together and sat down.

The feast began. The feast ended. Harry's fears of naughty children were unnecessary, his worry that they may be tired, however, was entirely true. James and Albus were asleep long before the conclusion of the feast.


	7. Subtle Cheating

Disclaimer: In chapter one

AN: Please review.

The next day dawned. Harry woke to an excited James leaping onto his bed. Albus was stood in the doorway. "Mummy told us to wake you up so you can go to school." James told him. Harry saw Ginny smirking at him from the room opposite. He slipped from his bed and went to get ready.

The family quickly found its way to the Gryffindor table. The owl post arrived and with it came Hedwig despite her lack of post. She perched on an empty goblet near Lily. Lily had already filled a plate with rashers that she'd gotten her mother to cut into smaller pieces for the young owl. Hedwig ate with them happily nattering away with Lily. Harry discovered to Ron's disappointment that he and Ginny had begun to share taste. Pumpkin juice bacon was not a particularly nice taste. Ron had been covered in the released pumpkin juice. Ginny had reacted to the sudden taste sharing by choking severely.

Ron had begun to shout at Harry when Harry, through Ginny's sight, saw Professor McGonagall's approach. "Is there a problem here Mister Weasley?"

"Harry sprayed his juice all over me."

Harry looked at the professor with his own eyes. "It was an accident, the juice had tasted odd." He had not lied, he'd just withheld why the juice had been so odd tasting. Harry and Ginny had already decided to not tell anyone of their bond. The stern witch was frowning at him, clearly she hadn't forgotten overnight that they'd not sat with their house when they were meant to the previous evening.

"Mr Potter, this is your timetable. It is for your lessons only. Your family shall not be attending these lessons. Mrs Potter, this timetable details activities that the headmaster will be providing this year for yourself and your children, it shall be changed on a weekly basis so ensure that you keep it with you." She then left them and continued down the table looking for the next person on her list. Already Albus was attempting to read the timetable, Lily, however, remained uninterested in human population of the hall.

Ginny was getting worried. Hedwig was no longer the only owl that was speaking with Lily. The rest of the children did not seem to find it so strange but many of the older students were looking over at the gathering with confused expressions. Harry had caught many of those looks as well. He decided it was about time to herd the family back to their rooms so that they could get ready for the first lessons of the day.

Ron continued to grumble at the table as they left. The owl flock took wing and flew from the hall and back to their homes, both in the owlery and further afield. Harry arrived at the rooms and started to pack his bag for Potions and Charms. Ginny however was packing a bag with a change of clothes for each of the children. They'd be learning to cook, or at least as much as children of their age could cook. They'd be starting with biscuits in the kitchens under the tutelage of the house elves.

Harry rushed off to the dungeons after hugging each of the children, exacting a promise that they'll be good for their mother and giving Ginny a quick kiss. The bell rang and Harry entered the room. He sat at a table near the door so that he could help Ginny if she needed it. Ginny and the children were making the trek down to the kitchens when the bell rang. Ron entered the dungeon and sat as far from Harry as possible. Neville, who had had to suffer being called 'Professor Neville' by James and Albus at breakfast, sat with Harry.

Then a pale man with a sallow face entered the room. Harry remembered his children talking about this man. He was Severus Snape, Albus' middle name was named after this man. Apparently Harry had said that he was the bravest man that he'd ever met. Although at school he had apparently also been a harsh teacher. Ginny had told him of her brother's tales, they were vastly different from their children's. They'd decided to judge him for themselves, a harsh teacher wasn't necessarily a bad one.

Ginny and the children entered the kitchen. Blinky, the head house elf welcomed them and showed them the magical cookers that they'd be using. He started them with weighing flour.

When Professor Severus Snape entered the room it fell into silence. He began to speak. "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making, as there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death." Silence continued to reign supreme after this speech.

Blinky had already had to remove an entire upended bag of flour from the floor. Ginny had admonished the boys for getting vast amounts of flour on themselves. She also noticed that many house elves had looked over at Lily often. In fact she was certain that some had been using house elf magic to help Lily as she had barely a single speck of flour on her. She edged slightly closer to Lily.

"Potter!" Professor Snape called. "What would I get if I added powdered rot of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry had no idea. "What would I get if I added powdered rot of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Ginny asked Blinky. The house elf looked up at her in surprise.

"That would be the draught of living death Lady Potter, we can make it if you wish."

"No that's ok Blinky, I just wanted to know." The house elf nodded in response before it brought out milk for them all. Ginny glanced over at Lily. She smiled slightly. A bottle of milk happened to be gently floating to the table.

"The Draught of Living Death Professor." Harry told the Potions professor. He raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps you did open a book before coming here today Mr Potter." The professor turned now to Ron.

"And you Mister Weasley, where would you find me a bezoar if I asked you for one?"

"The cupboard over there." He replied pointing at the students' supply cupboard.

"I do not keep my bezoars in the students' supply cupboard Mister Weasley, perhaps Mr Potter would know where bezoars are from?" The professor had turned back to him.

"Blinky where are bezoars from?" Ginny asked.

The elf was surprised by the sudden question, not as much as before. "They come from a goat's stomach. We can get you one, if you would like."

"No thank you Blinky, I just wanted to know."

"Is Lady Potter interested in potions? We can bring some books to you?"

Ginny thought about the offer, she and Harry, it would seem, needed the help as they hadn't known any of the answers. She could feel Harry's approval. "Yes please Blinky."

A half dozen house elves disappeared.

"Bezoars can be found in the stomach of a goat." Harry told Professor Severus Snape. The professor nodded.

"It would see that your fame has not encumbered you too greatly, if you would want to excel in this subject, it could be done." The professor turned back to the board and struck it with his wand. "You shall be producing the boil curing potion. The instructions are on the board. Get started."

Harry's eyesight had improved greatly. He assumed that the instructions would be correct and as such he would not need any potions knowledge to complete the lesson. He set to work. Similarly Ginny and the children were close to completing their first few bowls of biscuit mixture and would soon be rolling it out.

By the end of the hour, Harry had produced a batch of four doses of the boil curing potion, having bottled it all to avoid wasting any. Professor Severus Snape had nodded and smiled very slightly when Harry had handed in all four doses. Ginny and the children had baked a score of biscuits each. Albus had burnt a few and some of James' were sharp around the edges but Lily's biscuits were perfection. Ginny glanced at the house elves. First owls and now house elves. She hoped that the next activity wouldn't involve a band of admirers.


	8. Caught

Disclaimer: In chapter one.

AN: Sorry for the delay. Please Review.

Next was charms for Harry. He met his family in the corridors. After enquiring about their cookery lesson he rushed off to the classroom. He sat down at a seat near the door. The minute teacher soon entered and perched atop a pile of books so that he could reach the register. The children had told him that charms was very fun but could be tricky if you didn't pay attention. Apparently in the future he had been secretly teaching the children very basic spells, such as the point me charm, in case they needed them.

Ginny and the children followed Blinky to their next lesson. This lesson was a music lesson. Blinky had told her that he was teaching them for the whole year. When they arrived in the circular room they found seating around one half of a lower platform. It looked much like a small amphitheatre.

James and Albus had clearly seen the instruments as they shot off across the room. James picked up the biggest drum and Albus picked up a trumpet. Ginny just shook her head and sighed. The pair of them had become renowned over the summer for their ability to make a great deal of noise, she doubted Blinky could direct that noise into music.

Professor Flitwick began his lesson with a test on the main theories behind charms. Harry looked at the question sheet in disbelief. He hadn't learnt any of this. 'What is the difference between a charm and a transfiguration spell?' was question one.

Ginny felt Harry's confusion through their connection. Lily had already found a viola. To her surprise Blinky had already got James to beat to a simple rhythm and Albus to use a more manageable trumpet. "Blinky?" Blinky came over to her. "What's the difference between charms and transfiguration?" Blinky looked at her suspiciously.

"Mr Potter is in charms lesson now isn't he Mrs Potter?" Ginny flushed slightly. "I shall help you learn whatever you wish if you both promise to study." Ginny nodded. "A charm makes a thing like something else, a transfiguration spell makes a thing something else. Do you see?"

Ginny was still confused. "Young Mister Potter here has a large drum, yes?" Ginny nodded. "A charm could make the drum the size of an apple." The drum shrunk. James looked over at them. "A transfiguration spell can make the drum be a bowl." A bowl sat where the drum had been. Then the drum returned to its original form.

Harry spent much of charms writing answers that Blinky explained to him. Ginny learnt very little of her chosen instrument, a guitar. James however was now producing a wonderful beat to Albus' very simple trumpet tune. On the far side of the room Lily was performing a rendition of a rather sad melody to a flock of young blackbirds who sang along mournfully.

Ginny took Lily into her arms as the melody drifted to a close while Professor Flitwick was collecting the test answers in. Lily snuggled into Ginny's arms and lowered her viola, the birds took wing and flew down into the trees of the Forbidden Forest. "I miss Grandma and Grandad and Teddy." Lily confided.

"Me too." Ginny whispered to the girl gently. "We'll see them again for Christmas, that's very soon." Lily's eyes came alight.

"They aren't going to Romania?" She asked with exuberance. Ginny was surprised, she hadn't thought that anyone was going there, surely Charlie was coming home for Christmas. She kissed Lil's forehead softly and put her back down. Blinky had stored away all of the instruments and added a name plate to the boxes that held their four instruments.

Professor Flitwick was surprised as he glanced through the answer sheets. Most of the Ravenclaws had gotten at least half, Miss Granger had gotten full marks. She seemed to have copied directly from the textbook that students were required to bring. That didn't necessarily mean that she didn't understand the concepts, yet he'd rather she could explain in her own words. Mr Potter however was evidently a master of charms. He had answered all of the questions and some even had examples for them. He'd written his answers not as answers to a test but as if he was trying to teach someone about the fundamentals of charms.

Professor Flitwick let out a small high pitched chuckle. Mr Potter would clearly be a student to look out for this year. He left his office for lunch, he'd go over the test in detail later when he had some free time.

When he arrived Severus was already in a quiet conversation with many of the teachers. Albus had a slight frown on his face. When the small man sat at his place at the High Table, the other teachers began to excitedly interrogate him about Mr Potter. Apparently Severus had felt the boy was exceptionally skilful at potions. Filius thought he heard mention of Mr Potter's mother and her potions skill. He could remember that she was an excellent charms student as well.

When lunch came to a close Filius mourned the fact that he hadn't actually had time to eat much as, after the other professors were satisfied, Albus had questioned him. His questions were of a different nature. Filius understood that Albus was worried that the boy's sudden marriage had collapsed the wards that had previously been protecting the boy. Albus acted like he was the boy's actual grandfather sometimes.

Filius shook his head and rushed a last few morsels of lunch into his mouth.

When Harry, Ginny and the children returned to their suite during lunch, to drop off their things, they discovered many house elves at work at one side of the common room. A new doorway stood there. One house elf stepped forward. He glanced at Lily for a moment before looking directly between Harry and Ginny. He addressed the empty space. "Blinky told us that you'd be needing a library here. We have built it. Hopefully it suits your needs."

Harry took a step into the new room. It was massive. There were rows upon rows of shelves all brimming with books. "This book here has a list of all of the titles and topics of the books in here, it can find any book or topic that you ask of it." The house elf had reoriented so that he continued to address the very center of the gap between Harry and Ginny. The house elf then pointed at a board beside the door. "This is where Blinky will put the titles of books you ought to read and study." He then bowed to the gap and disappeared.

Soon after they were sat together at lunch. Hedwig had joined them again, however luckily, she was the only owl. Other students looked at Hedwig with some confusion but after that morning they weren't too surprised. Harry saw that the professors were all talking together quietly and occasionally glancing at the family. He and Ginny were hesitant to eat with their new shared taste. When they did eventually start to eat they made certain to eat only the same things or to take turns eating. Soon they were quickly eating simultaneously and with perfect synchronicity.

Ron gave them an odd look between shovelling food into his face. When Harry wasn't paying attention, Ginny quickly drank some pumpkin juice while he was eating some fish. He choked slightly and mock glared at her. She stuck her tongue out cheekily before turning back to her meal. Needless to say the rest of the meal consisted of Harry and Ginny sporadically eating and drinking random combinations of tastes and occasionally poking one another in retaliation.


	9. Missing Lessons

Disclaimer: In chapter one

AN: Please review. Sorry about the delay.

After lunch Harry had his first defence against the dark arts lesson. Professor Quirrel made him feel off, as if every part of him was at once angry and afraid. Only Ginny's calming presence in his mind kept him from leaving the room. Ginny and the children were going to the lake for swimming lessons. While the boys were excited to be able to play in the Black Lake, Lily was worried that she'd sink. Ginny spent much of the walk to the water reassuring her.

Harry's lesson was about ghosts and ghouls. The lesson progressed slowly as Professor Quirrel stuttered and stammered his way through excerpts of the textbook. Harry wasn't entirely sure whether the stuttering was fake or not but he felt that he and Ginny would have to study defence from their library as he was getting very little from class. He could feel Ginny's agreement.

Meanwhile Ginny and the children were taking their first steps into the water. Ginny had been swimming in the lake by the Burrow for many years and James and Albus had recently begun to learn to swim with their father at Potter Manor so they weren't at all nervous about the lesson. Lily, however, made sure to always be near her mother. The swimming lesson went well, Ginny and the boys had all swam to a small island in the centre of the lake and Lily had been perfectly content to swim alone in the deep water. She turned out to be a rather fast swimmer.

Harry was glad to be able to leave the garlic infested classroom when the bell rang. He felt that defence would be a fun subject in another professor's hands. He spotted Ginny and the children clambering out of the lake as he walked to the history classroom. She smiled up at him and he couldn't help but smile back at her even though for anyone else it would have been impossible to make out that a smile from so far away.

Ginny and the children would be having their own history lesson with Blinky. The house elf led them to a small room beside the kitchen where younger house elves were sat waiting. He then stood at the front and began the lesson. This lesson would be on Atlantean culture and the royal artefacts that were once kept in the Great Pyramid. Harry's lesson was on the first Goblin War.

While Ginny was very interested by her lesson and the children were all behaving spectacularly, Harry was becoming rather doubtful that he'd learn much in history. He couldn't study everything from the library, he wouldn't have the time so he endeavoured to not fall asleep in that first lesson. He learnt that Karthar had been the first Goblin King and had killed the ninth legion deep in the moors of Yorkshire during the first Goblin War. In return the Brigantes confederation had given the Goblins the land that they currently owned.

In the other history class James was fascinated by the tales of the staff the kings of Atlantis used to perform exceptionally powerful magic. Albus was trying to decipher an ancient text that had been discovered in one of the bedchambers in the royal palace. Lily had already disappeared amongst the house elf children who wear admiring the Queen's gowns. Ginny meanwhile was using all of her concentration in keeping Harry awake. He had told her that it wasn't necessary but she had simply told him that she wanted to do things with him in the evenings that weren't studying.

When their lessons ended they all met up in the entrance hall. Ginny was carrying the homework tasks that Blinky had set his class. When they were all eating Harry and Ginny received a few looks for their synchronous eating. Soon they were all back in their suite. Harry and Ginny put the children to bed and Harry started his homework while Ginny found the books that Blinky had listed for that evening. After finishing an essay on the fundamentals of charms, Harry snuggled into Ginny's side so that they could read together.

They fell asleep curled up together on the sofa with a book on the wand lighting charm on the floor beside them.

The next morning they were both very embarrassed to find the children waking them both after they had slept together in the common room. It had been the best night's sleep that either could remember. Harry quickly got dressed and grabbed everything that he needed for charms before rushing out of the door with only a quick peck on the cheek for Ginny a hug for the children. Soon after he left Blinky came in and collected them for a music lesson.

Harry arrived in the classroom to find that the lesson would be on the wand lighting charm. Having spent a few hours the previous night reading about the charm with Ginny and practicing it he felt the lesson would be rather easy. By the end of the lesson Professor Flitwick had moved Harry on from lighting his wand to creating a light away from his wand tip. Hermione had looked somewhat upset that she hadn't been able to get quite as far. Professor Flitwick seemed rather excited by his progress.

In music class Ginny and Lily had already perfected a soft duet with their viola and guitar. James and Albus meanwhile were working on their own musical duet with a bit less harmony. James was drumming just slightly out of time with Albus's melody and the piece wasn't quite as pleasing to the ear as it would undoubtedly become after a few more lessons.

Then Harry had defence and Ginny had swimming again. This time all four of them made it to the island in the centre of the Black Lake, something Lily was very proud of. Albus and James had then played a game of splashing each other by the island's shore. Again Harry felt that there was something wrong with Professor Quirrel. Near the end of the lesson his scar burnt painfully. Ginny cried out down by the lake and clutched her forehead. The pain soon died down and the bell rang. Harry sprinted out of the door, he was encompassed by a soft white light and appeared on the island beside Ginny. He took her into his arms and they knelt on the shore together in each other's tight grasp.

"Will Mrs and Mr Potter be needing to go to the hospital wing?" Blinky asked. They shook their heads silently. He nodded in reply. "I shall be telling Madame Sprout that Mr Potter shall not be in her lesson this morning." When he didn't receive a response he disappeared with a pop. He returned moments later and brought them all back to their suite. "You shall both go rest now." He told them. Harry and Ginny walked into Harry's room and curled up together, exhausted by whatever had happened during that lesson.

Lily pulled on Blinky's arm. "Will Mummy and Daddy be okay?" She asked. Blinky looked down at the young girl.

"They will need their children's help in the times to come little Miss Potter." He turned to the boys. "All of their children." Then he went into the library and brought out some colouring books and gave them to the children. They spent the rest of the morning colouring as Blinky supervised them and their parents slept.


	10. Wand Difficulties

Disclaimer: In chapter one

AN: Please review.

Ginny woke in Harry's arms. He was still sleeping and his hold on her hadn't lessened at all. She snuggled further into his chest but only succeeded in awakening him. He stretched and nearly dropped her over the edge of the bed. He looked down at her with concern. "Are you ok?" he asked her. She nodded into his chest, stretching as she did with a slight yawn. She rolled up and out of the bed and went to check on the children. Harry followed.

Blinky was reading to Lily a story about King Arthur which James was listening in to while he coloured a dragon bright red. Albus was on the other side of the room playing with one of Lily's plush unicorns. Lily was the first to notice them. She shot up off the sofa and gripped her mother in a tight hug. "Are you better now mummy?" She asked.

"Of course I am Lily." Ginny replied. Albus looked up from his collection of Lily's toys. He remembered that his dad had told him about his head hurting a lot when he was little. Apparently it meant the bad man was nearby. Albus looked about.

"Is your head hurting daddy?" he asked. Harry shook his head.

"I'm fine Albus." Albus nodded and went back to his toys.

"The time is just past two in the afternoon Mr and Mrs Potter. If you are feeling well you could be going to your lessons?" Harry's first transfiguration lesson was the last lesson of the day and he'd been rather interested in the subject. Both he and Ginny had felt that becoming animagi would be fun, even if it took a lot of transfiguration study to master, so he was excited for the lesson. Ginny and the children in the meantime would be working with Mr Hagrid in the forest looking after some of the animals. Harry and Ginny decided to attend lessons that afternoon.

While Ginny and the children were walking to Mr Hagrid's house, Albus pulled on her robe. "Did the bad man try to hurt daddy?" He asked. Ginny was confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Daddy told me that when he was littler his head hurt when the bad man was trying to catch him." Harry and Ginny were shocked. A bad man? They had no idea what was going on.

"Who's the bad man?"

"Daddy says he's called Tom. He says Tom hurt you a lot. Did the bad man hurt you when we were swimming?" Albus looked worried.

"I'm fine now Albus. You don't need to worry." She tried to reassure him. "I'm sure Tom won't be able to hurt us here, especially not with brave Professor Blinky here." Albus giggled softly at his mother's antics before running ahead to catch up with James who was regaling Lily with tales of times that Harry had gone into the Forbidden Forest.

Meanwhile Harry had arrived at his first transfiguration lesson to find no one there except a brown tabby cat. He sat down in a seat near the door and pulled out his textbook. Still no one came. He supposed the bell hadn't rang for the fourth lesson yet. The cat was staring at him now. Then it clicked. The cat must be an animagus. Surely the transfiguration professor would have mastered the most amazing and difficult transfiguration.

"Hello professor." Harry called out. "I'm sorry if I'm early, should I wait outside?" The cat regarded him with some confusion. It glanced around before jumping down from the desk. Professor McGonagall stood before him.

"That won't be necessary Mr Potter." The bell rang as she paused. "Your father was a master at transfiguration, I should hope you have inherited his ability." She seemed to be looking into his soul, he resisted the urge to squirm and to roll his eyes at Ginny rolling hers. Ginny giggled. The stern witch returned to her desk as the class entered. "Stay behind afterwards Mr Potter, I'd like to discuss your absence from Professor Sprout's class." Harry nodded and flushed slightly.

Ginny and the children arrived at the small wooden hut that Mr Hagrid lived in. He opened the door. He was massive. "Hi Professor Hagrid!" The children called. Lily gave one of Mr Hagrid's legs a hug. Mr Hagrid looked surprised.

"Professor, no that ain't right. I'm not a professor." Ginny stifled a giggle at his confused expression.

"Don't worry Mr Hagrid, you don't need to worry about that, you are teaching us to look after animals today anyway." Mr Hagrid nodded.

"Yes I suppose I am. Come along then, stay on the path with me." He strode out of the hut, a large black boarhound leapt out after him. James and Albus walked beside Mr Hagrid as best as they could while Lily talked to the boarhound. Ginny followed along after.

The transfiguration lesson was on the spell to turn a matchstick into a needle. Professor McGonagall told them that while the spell wasn't the most useful or flashy, it would help them to learn to control their magic since transfiguration was exceptionally dangerous if it was poorly controlled. Harry was having some difficulty making the spell work. Hermione's match had gone silver and the end was less blunt. His own match seemed to be unchanged. Ron had snapped his match twice and had to ask for two more.

Ginny tripped on a tree root, Harry put his hands out in front of him to stop his fall and the match became a needle. Harry bent down to pick up the wand that he had dropped. He was shocked that he had changed the match even more so that it had only worked without the spell and without his wand. Ginny however was rather glad that at the same time as Harry's match changed she'd suddenly found her footing and kept herself from falling.

She and the children were looking after some unicorn foals as the unicorns wouldn't allow Mr Hagrid to tend to their foals but did allow them to. Something Ginny thought was less than intelligent, surely Mr Hagrid would be better than James and Albus at healing sick foals. She glance over at Lily, the two foals that she had been feeding medicine to were already dashing about leaving Lily with fits of laughter as their tail hairs tickled her.

James and Albus were, for once, rather serious. They were discussing one young foal's hurt hoof and, despite not understanding what they themselves were saying, sounded just like two mediwizards. Ginny would have to save that foal from them after she got this one to drink the strengthening potion.

Harry tried the spell with his wand again. The match did nothing. He looked around. No one was watching him. He tried it without his wand. Nothing happened. He glanced around again. He pointed at the match without his wand and didn't say the spell. He imagined the match becoming a needle. When he next looked at the match it was silver and sharp with perfectly round eye. He picked it up. He'd made a needle. But why couldn't he do it with his wand?

After having rescued the foal from James and Albus and Lily from laughing herself unconscious Ginny led the group back to where Mr Hagrid and Fang the boarhound were. They followed Mr Hagrid back to the castle and waited for Harry to come down for dinner.

Harry explained to Professor McGonagall that he and Ginny had suffered from a sudden and extreme head pain and that Blinky, who had been leading Ginny's lesson at the time, had directed them to bed. After talking his way out of a trip to the hospital wing he was preparing to leave when Professor McGonagall surprised him. "Is there a problem with your wand Mr Potter?" His head snapped around to look at her.

"No Professor, not at all." The professor pulled out a match.

"Could you change this into a needle please?" She put it on the desk. Harry hesitated. He pointed his wand and spoke the incantation all the while imagining the change. Nothing happened. He glanced at the stern witch, she was frowning. Harry put one of his fingers along the length of the wand so that it was pointing the same way as the wand was. He tried again. He had produced another perfect needle. Professor McGonagall regarded him with some suspicion. "You may leave Mr Potter, it is dinnertime now." Harry nodded and left the room.

Ginny gave him a hug when he arrived in the entrance hall. "She noticed you know." Ginny told him. He nodded. She took his hand and led him into the great hall.


	11. A Dance Amidst the Branches

Disclaimer: In chapter one

AN: Sorry that this chapter's shorter, it felt like a natural ending point for the chapter. Please review.

The next day, after lessons finished, there was the opportunity for a flying lesson. Madame Hooch led the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students out to the Quidditch pitch. It quickly became a catastrophe. Neville Longbottom kicked off from the ground with too much force and began to spiral upwards. He soon tumbled from his broom and broke his wrist on impact with the ground. Harry saw his rememball roll out of his pocket. He went forward to pick it up and return it to Neville when Malfoy picked the ball up. Harry and Ginny's children were suddenly very excited. He glanced back at where they sat with Ginny, they had not been allowed to fly in the lesson but were allowed to watch. James had been very certain that he wanted to watch this particular lesson.

"Look! It's that stupid thing his Gran got him!" Malfoy called out.

"Give it here Malfoy." Harry told him, deathly calm.

"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find it. How about up a tree?" The blond boy shot off into the air above the whomping willow. Harry mounted his own broom. He rose into the air smoothly and quickly. He had flown with Ginny in the night at the Burrow while everyone else slept, it was one secret that the two shared. Well, apparently the children already knew since the pair did a fair bit of night flying in the future as well, but the children had agreed not to tell anyone.

Malfoy refused to be reasoned with, he threw the rememball as far as he could. It was with a glint in his eye that Harry dived, he was practically in freefall and heading straight for the whomping willow. The rememball fell through the branches as he dove and it awoke the tree. Ginny's second perspective aided him immensely, he could see and therefore avoid the branches which were out of view from his own sight. The children's cheering, while encouraging, was less helpful.

Harry had no problem at all dodging through the flailing branches of the tree even on this old school broom which tugged slightly to the left and deftly caught the rememball about a foot from the ground before he straightened up and wove his way around the tree trunk to avoid the branches and burst out above it.

When he landed Professor McGonagall was already waiting for him. She didn't speak, although her frown told him of her disappointment, and simply held out her hand into which he deposited Neville's rememball and then turned, not even checking that he was following. He followed her into her office. Ginny and the children were stood outside, from the look on Professor McGonagall's face it was obvious that they were there even for someone who didn't share Ginny's senses.

"Mister Potter I should suspend you at the least for what just happened." She spoke calmly. Harry's head reddened in shame and he kept his head bowed, not even sitting in the seat opposite the professor. "However I shall not be doing so." His face snapped up to look at hers. "I believe that you acted selflessly and nobly, both of which are characteristics that I would like to think that I help foster in my students."

She paused. "I would like to offer you a place on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, we could do with a seeker and if what I've just seen is any evidence then you'll make a good one. I'll speak to Professor Dumbledore about bending the first year broom rule, your first practise is on Saturday, I'll tell Wood that you're coming. However, should I discover any misbehaviour, I may reconsider my decision to not punish you today. Is that understood?" Harry nodded. He could feel Ginny nodding on the other side of the door.

When he left the office the children hugged him. "Daddy is the best seeker in the world!" Albus told him. He glanced at Ginny, he hadn't heard her tell them what was happening, she shrugged it was likely that this was something that had happened in the future, or past, or whatever the word was for something from the future that had already happened, Harry was getting confused and he could see his confusion bleeding over into Ginny's mind. She poked him and dragged him off to dinner, the children already barrelling through the corridor.

They had discussed the previous night before sleep, in separate beds again, the issue of this bad man called Tom. Neither knew anyone called Tom but if they had splitting head pains whenever he was nearby then things weren't going to go well if they ever had to fight him away. They decided to do research to see if there were any known criminals called Tom and on ways to prevent someone attacking their minds. So far they had only experienced the pain in Professor Quirrel's class but they knew that Professor Quirrel's first name was Quirinus, unless he was only pretending.

That night they fell asleep with some difficulty, it felt as if now that they had experienced sleeping in one another's arms they simply couldn't sleep any other way. The better part of the night had passed by the time they drifted off.


End file.
